Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared to acknowledge that the ongoing Senate standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security is largely a political dispute rather than a pure funding crisis, conceding in a television interview that immigration enforcement agencies already have substantial funding.
The admission came during an appearance Sunday on State of the Union with host Jake Tapper, as Democrats continue blocking a House-passed bill that would fund the entire department. Tapper asked Buttigieg whether Democrats should accept what he described as a partial victory and move to reopen DHS.
“Don’t you think Democrats should take what’s something of a win and start funding DHS again?” Tapper asked. Buttigieg responded by arguing that Republicans were blocking Democratic proposals to fund most parts of the department while negotiations continue over immigration enforcement agencies.
“I think Republicans should stop blocking the Democratic proposals to fund all of DHS including TSA and other parts, except for the parts that should be negotiated over which is ICE and Customs and Border Patrol,” Buttigieg said. “Remember ICE has already gotten tens of billions of dollars of funding — it’s larger than many of the world’s militaries.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Democrat Pete Buttigieg admits Democrats are the ones shutting down DHS knowing ICE is already funded.
BUTTIGIEG: &#8220;ICE has already gotten&#8230;funding.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/EVFsBEOzwA">pic.twitter.com/EVFsBEOzwA</a>
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/2033187325153366041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
The comments come as Senate Democrats have repeatedly voted to block a motion to proceed on a House-passed funding bill for DHS. <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5781155-democrats-blocks-homeland-security-funding-bill/">The latest vote </a>failed 51–46, short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to move the legislation forward.
Democrats have argued that the bill should not advance because it includes funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without changes to immigration enforcement practices.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Democrats want reforms that would require immigration agents to operate more like traditional law enforcement. “We all know that we do not have agreement on how to deal with ICE,” Schumer said before the vote. “Democrats just want ICE to behave like any police department in America and use warrants and not wear masks.”
He added on the Senate floor on Thursday, “Who’s standing in the way? America, look at it. We’re not putting any preconditions on funding TSA; the Republicans are.”
Republicans argue the stalemate is the result of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/13/democrats-republicans-dhs-shutdown-00827135">Democrats refusing to fund</a> core immigration enforcement agencies. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said GOP negotiators had repeatedly offered compromise proposals, including a short-term resolution that would reopen the entire department.
“There have been offers made repeatedly,” Thune said on the Senate floor, urging lawmakers to fund not only the Transportation Security Administration but also agencies such as the United States Coast Guard and FEMA.
Democrats, meanwhile, attempted to pass funding bills for individual components of DHS, including the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA. Republicans blocked those efforts, trying to keep the funding package whole, to prevent what would essentially be an unlegislated freeze on ICE and CBP.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) accused Democrats of political “gamesmanship” on the Senate floor. “The Democrats do not want to fund the Coast Guard because they’re hell-bent on defunding ICE,” Schmitt said.
Buttigieg’s remarks highlighting the existing funding levels for ICE could add a new dimension to the debate, as lawmakers continue to clash over whether the standoff is about government funding or broader disagreements over immigration enforcement policy.

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Pete Buttigieg Admits DHS Shutdown Has No Impact On ICE, Still Blames GOP